Out of Place, Out of Mind
by The Lazy Alchemist
Summary: Well, after Ed fails to bring back Alphonse from the gate, the gate sends him off to Santa Barbara, with the effect of dragging other people there too. Gah, i suck at summaries, just read the fanfic, please.


**Hello, fellow Peasants! I just felt like i should say some words, after all , i am the author. Weellllll. i think i have said enough. Though, i feel as if i should warn you, it takes place around the last issue of FullMetal Alchemist, and season six of psych. Dance my puppetsss!**

**PS:** oh, i forgot, the _italics _are the character's thoughts. If i ever remember to use them!

**Disclaimer: **the sad fact is, i own nothing. Zip! If i did, i would be rich.

* * *

Its white everywhere, everything, except a huge, dark stone door, and an alchemist, covered in blood, standing before it. There was a voice came from that area, belonging to a body that almost completely blended into it's surrounding area.

"Have you come for your brother?" the voice was a cold, unyielding version of the alchemist's before him.

"But how will you pull a whole person out? What is the payment?" It paused, grinning. " Will you offer up your own body?"

The human strode across the white nothingness, and spoke, "This huge thing is your payment." Gesturing to the giant door.

"… You're willing to degrade yourself to an ordinary human, not able to use alchemy?" The truth was surprised at this form of sacrifice. No one had ever done this.

"There's nothing degrading about it! I've always been a ordinary human, not being able to save a child who had been turned into a chimera." The alchemist said matter-of-factly almost proud of this act.

The voice chuckled, "A very heroic choice, but, to be honest, I can't grant you your wish with that trade."

"Why? It's a equivalent trade!" the boy said, getting angry, "Its enough isn't it to bring my brother back?"

"I would usually grant you this, but you are still useful to me, and I have more to get done." It said with a big smile.

"Goddammit!" The human shouted, throwing his hands up frustratingly. Now how was he supposed to get Alphonse back? He couldn't stand to be alone, not again.

"But there is something that you can do. Well, it requires more power than yours, but I think they're up for the task, it would be entertaining for me, but slightly painful for you.

"What is it?!" he paused, "Whose 'they'?" he would of strangled the being if he could have touched it. It made him be so mad! But that wouldn't help the situation now, would it?

"Well, you don't really need to know who they are." he paused, "I'll let you figure out where when you get there. If you do this you can have your precious brother back. If you want him."

"What do I have to do?" desperately ran to where the voice was coming from.

"You'll need a group of very skilled people. Don't worry, I'll make sure you have met them at least. You need them to help you."

"Who? How many?" The alchemist quivered, wondering it wanted him to do a transmutation. He couldn't possibly do that, not even for Al.

"Well, I'd have to say less than eight, more than three." Ed couldn't shake the feeling that the voice was teasing him. "You'll have to figure out when you get there, also, to help. They won't arrive at the same time, let alone the same place. You'll have to look for them."

"Arrive? Arrive where? Can't I at least tell someone that they might be taken?" desperately, he looked around.

"Yes, you can go back, but it will cost you for this valuable information."

A frustrated growl came from his parched throat. "What do you want?" he needed to clear his head. After a moment he frowned then opened his eyes, "But at least can I see my brother before I go?"

"Fine, you can see him, but I want your right arm."

"Again?" He gasped as he appeared before a boy, probably only sixteen or fifteen, with rough golden hair and eyes. He looked so frail. And… completely naked.

"Brother? Big Brother!" the boy eagerly jumped up and ran to hug this brother. "You came back for me! I can't wait to go home!"

"Sorry, Alphonse," he tensed, tears rolling off his face, "You can't go home yet, the gate won't except my trade."

"Brother… then how will you leave?" Alphonse's voice cracked.

"I'll…. I'm giving him my arm, again." he sounded depressed. His right arm was disintegrating already. "but I'll be back for you."

"You've overstayed your time. You are leaving. I'm giving you four days, then I'm taking you." they had forgotten about the being that guarded the huge stone gate.

"Brother! Edward! No!" Alphonse despairingly dove to grab Ed before he was dragged away. Then Ed was gone. As if he was never there to begin with.

"Where are you taking brother?" the frail boy shouted miserably.

"I'm taking him home, then I'm taking him to a different world"

"What?" Alphonse shouted. He wasn't speaking in the usual nonsense.

"To Earth, he's going to earth." it disappeared.  
Alphonse was utterly confused.

* * *

**Few, well, DAYS later:**

When Ed regained consciousness, he had absolutely no idea where he was or how he got here. He also was absolutely famished . He was in a hospital, on a hospital bed, that's for sure. He immediately registered that kind of smell in his mind ever since his multiple visits to hospitals such as this. He could feel the soft cloth under his hands, wait, no, hand, and leg. That's right, that son of a gun took his arm again. He couldn't see, either, maybe his eyes were taken, too, like Mustang. He doubted the idea though, since there was no aching and no pain. His vision was just obstructed, most likely by a cloth or bandage something of the like. His automail on his left leg was aching, most likely because of all the strenuous stuff he had done lately. Well, strenuous would be a huge understatement.

He heard footsteps walk quickly up to him, quick, soft and quite serious on the floor. He had dreaded those footsteps. They sounded like the footsteps he ran away from quite a lot in his childhood. Teacher. If she discovered he was awake, he would die, because not only did he lose his arm, he failed to succeed to bring his brother back with him. Damn! The memory of the gate appeared in his mind. He lost Al. He needed to leave, to get up.

He had a very feeble attempt to get up. It was horrible. He tried getting up, but, not surprisingly, he was just too weak. He wondered how long he had been here. "Dammit!" he croaked.

"He's up! A voice, not really recognizable, definitely a male, and sort of gruff. His hearing was sort of disordered. He heard a weird screech, figuring it was a chair backing up from a table. Maybe Izumi wasn't here, and he could escape with his life. He was probably wrong, but a guy can hope, right? He tried saying something, to figure out who exactly was in the room with him, but all that came out was a dry croak. His throat was drier than there desert around Lior. Apparently swearing doesn't help the situation.

"Edward?" Yup, definitely Izumi. He decided coughing would be the best approach to replying to her without getting beat up. Wrong.

"Well, seems that you have managed to lose your arm. Again!" she dragged him off the bed, and whatever had been on his face fell off.

Now he could see the room he was staying in. And oh, look, he also sees Teacher's foot. Flying straight at him. What a wonderful way to be greeted.

"You are by far the worst student that I have ever trained! How could you do that? How!" Ed went almost flying out of the room the non- traditional way. The steel door held up, but the disgraced student managed to bruise his hip on a nearby table. He didn't even have time to realize what was happening. Everything was slow, and he was so damn tired. He couldn't even pick himself up when he landed on the ground a few yards from the hospital bed.

"Get up." A swift kick came to his side, and there was an explosive pain. He groaned "Get. Up. Edward." The coldness in her voice was frightening, if he had the energy, he would have jumped up in an instant, ready to get pummeled to the ground again. Everything hurt. His eyes were sore from the pale light coming from a lamp on the desk. He felt the fact that he had no spirit at the moment. He lost his brother, again, and lost his arm, again. He was so stupid. He just stayed down.

"Well, looks like you're going to die there!" She stepped over Ed as she left the room. To Edward, the room spun in circles.

"I would appreciate it if you wouldn't murder my patients, Mrs. Curtis." the gruff voice called after her. Was that…. Doctor Knox? Ha, looks like he's helping the living now. Something grabbed him and picked him up gently. Back to the hospital bed, then.

He was set down back on the bed. He didn't even complain about about being carried. But he needed to know something.

"Hey… how long have I been out?" He needed to know. He didn't have time to sleep. He needed to go and tell people where he was going, let alone where other people will disappear to.

"I would say, about, two and a half days since your transmutation. It's about ten o'clock right now." Dr. Knox scratched his chin. His white shirt had speckles of dust on it, implying he hadn't changed in a while.

Ed was a bit slow on thinking today, so it took him a minute to process this. "WHAT?" Ed jumped off the bed, but pathetically fell to the floor. Struggling stand, or at least crawl to the door. The fact that he was missing an arm just made it all the more difficult.

"Whoa, buddy, you need to rest and heal, you have been through quite a lot these past few days." The doctor jumped of his chair to pick up his fallen patient and put him back on the cot.

"I need to warn people…" Ed grunted as he was not so gently placed, well, kind of tossed, back on the bed. "Well, you can tell them later, because your not even in the condition to leave. You can't even stand up!" Dr. Knox didn't want Edward to go gallivanting across Central, which was in ruins, not anytime soon. "You need sleep! Whatever you need can wait the night!"

"People are in danger!" Ed pleaded, but his eyes were drooping.

"Well,you're in danger of spilling your guts on the ground," Knox snapped back. He paused, to think on what to say next.

"All I mean is the face that the people you are trying to warn would take you more seriously if you weren't coughing up blood on their shoes." It was a rude comment, but at least it got his point across. "Not to mention that they're probably in a sleeping. Like i should be." He mumbled under his breath.

Ed realized the doctor's point. Hurting himself even more wouldn't help at all, but he needed to find Alphonse. That's all that mattered to him. He tried to make a last ditch effort to get off the hospital bed, but the physician quickly blocked him and pinned him down. Ed thrashed trying to get away from his iron grip.

"I really had hoped i didn't need to do this, but..." He reached into his nearby medicine bag with one hand, and grabbed a needle, filled with a clear liquid. The patient's desire to get away was only fueled by this action. He reach across to Ed's left side and jabbed it into the arm. Ed almost immediately relaxed.

"You'll be asleep for the rest of the night, at least." He placed his palm on his head. Why was he talking to someone who wouldn't answer? He needed more sleep obviously. The doctor went to grab his bag, and exited the room. He still needed to see more people. He sighed.

* * *

**HOURS Later **(If i did my math right, this is Ed's last day)

Ed woke up with the sun shining on his face. He had a raging headache that slowed down his thought process. It took him a moment to recall the reason behind the fact that he had the headache. Dam!

"Edward Elric!" a huge man, with a blonde mustache stood by the door. "You have awakened. I have been assigned to guard you until you get your new automail!"

_Crap. Major Armstrong_

Ed was lifted from the hospital bed, and embraced by the major. "I am glad you have survived! Sadly, you lost your arm again but-"

"Major... I.. can't breathe!" Ed was being suffocated by the major's hug. he was placed back on the bed.

"What time is it anyway, Armstrong?"

"11:30 in the morning." the Strong-Arm Alchemist responded promptly. Ed did his best to hide his surprise remembering what happened last time he tried to do what he thought to do when he heard of the time. He only had about half a day to spread the word.

"How's Mustang?" Ed wanted to change the topic.

"He's doing fine! Minus the fact he's blind... I'm planning on seeing him later today with Doctor Knox down near the battle field-" they both paused to rethink what happened the past few days.

"I think I should go down there, to check up on everyone there." _and make sure that nobody just disappears to the gate. _

The only response was a nod from the major, whose thoughts were still back in thinking about the battle with the being was trying to become god. A lot of good people had been injured, some of them even died. He sighed. and stood up, returning to his overly joyful self.

"Yes, lets go now! It would be a joy to see all of the people down there!" He tossed Ed some clothes for him to change into, not what he normally wore, just a white dress shirt and some tan pants. At least they fitted him.

The drive there was uneventful, just Armstrong, Knox and Ed piled into the same cab. Ed was squeezed in between the two of them, making it very uncomfortable for all three. They had decided, against Ed's wishes, to eat when they got there with some other people. They seemed to have forgotten the fact that Ed hadn't eaten in forever.

When they got there there were tents everywhere, the demolished area had sort of become a army hospital. There were soldiers with crutches and bandages limping and walking around.

"Why are none of these people in a hospital, like i was?" Some of the people here looked like death itself.

"They didn't want to leave. They felt like they should help." Knox replied, "I argued with a bunch of them but most of them stayed. We took thise in the worst condition and the ones unconscious, like you."

Ed felt guilty, he had gotten a warm bed, and his injuries were only minor, minus the missing arm, but he was fine, while these people were still risking their lives down here doing whatever they could to help.

He noticed there was an area that was completely empty and had no tents and people were going out of their way to dodge the place. Edward walked closer, but Armstrong got in his way,

"No." The Strong-Arm Alchemist stated firmly.

"Why what's over there?" The Elric tried to get past him. He then saw a large grey rock. His eyes adjusted. Al's armor body was still there, broken and covered with mud. No one had bothered to move it. Ed could feel his eyes water up. Al was dead, and it was all his fault.

He walked up to it and saw that the breast plate of the armor had been destroyed, showing off the alchemical circle that had attached Alphonse Elric's soul to the armor. His brother had sacrificed his life to get his arm back, and now Ed couldn't help him. Ed fell to his knees before it. The sight of it made him realize that now, he was alone, utterly alone.

"Should we just leave him there?" the major whispered to the doctor, who were standing a few feet away.

"... Yes, i think we should. We have more matters to attend to. We will visit the Colonel, like we said, then come back for Ed." Knox replied, nodded his head in agreement with himself. They both turned away and headed in the direction of where Mustang was, leaving Ed in front of the armor.

Ed didn't really notice the time pass by. all he could really think of was Alphonse. He sat there for a while, when a heavy hand fell upon his shoulder. He looked up, and saw Van Hohemheim, standing above him.

He looked...old. His golden hair had now had white throughout it, and he had wrinkles all on his face. It looked like his years were catching up to him. All four hundred.

"Alphonse isn't dead. You can save him." He said this quietly through a deep, gravelly voice.

"I will save him, but..." Ed trailed off.

"That transmutation you had, it mentioned you going to help it, yes?"

"How the hell do you figure that out?"

"Take care of your brother when he comes back." Hohenheim smiled and turned away, and Ed had the urge to follow him, but he felt like his feet were rooted in the ground. His old man was an old man now.

* * *

**Well, that's that! i worked awhile on this fic! I had, like, three ways to end this chapter, so I had decided to write a new chapter! it turned out to be this chapter here. I'm not very pleased anyway.  
**

**To be really honest, i don't think the next chapter will be as long. Sorry!**

**Please Read & Review, even if you are picking out my mistakes, i really would enjoy reading them!**

**Thank you! and to all, a good night.**


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